![]() Only in 1648, at the Peace of Westphalia, was the Dutch Republic finally recognized as an independent state.Ĭompared to its neighbours, the Dutch Republic was an extraordinary political entity. For a long time the future of the young nation hung in the balance, as the Spanish Habsburg empire continued to wage war against its rebellious subjects. This new state, officially founded in 1588, had its origin in the revolt of the increasingly Protestant Low Countries against their autocratic Catholic overlord Philip II (1527–1598), king of Spain. One of the most striking outcomes of the religious and political conflicts in 16th-century Europe was the creation of the Republic of the Seven United Dutch Provinces. Introduction: The Dutch Republic and Its Golden Age By the middle of the eighteenth century, with Britain, France and the German states on the rise, the 'Dutch miracle' was over, in the world of books as well as in any other. The ascendency, however, was shortlived, as it also depended on the temporarily weak position of neighbouring countries. High rates of literacy and education encouraged a thriving book culture. Following the workings of a stable market economy, printers and publishers turned imported raw materials, including news and information, into finished products – books, newspapers, magazines – which they sold wherever there was a demand for them, at home as well as abroad. Waves of religious and economic immigrants provided the necessary manpower, skills and creativity. The book trade benefitted from a lack of control, the result of the country’s remarkable political structure and absence of a state religion. ![]() The reasons for this phenomenon are diverse, but it impacted all branches of Dutch society, including the production, distribution and consumption of printed media. In the seventeenth century, the Dutch Republic witnessed its Golden Age. Hoftijzer Original auf Original in English,
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